The networked computing environment (e.g., cloud computing environment) is an enhancement to the predecessor grid environment, whereby multiple grids and other computation resources may be further enhanced by one or more additional abstraction layers (e.g., a cloud layer), thus making disparate devices appear to an end-consumer as a single pool of seamless resources. These resources may include such things as physical or logical computing engines, servers and devices, device memory, and storage devices, among others.
Many of today's cloud computing environments may include multiple cloud units deployed in different geographic locations. Users may request resources from each of the groups based on certain performance requirements and/or needs. Challenges may exist, however, in providing an approach for managing cloud resources in a manner that optimizes the value for both the cloud users as well as for cloud providers.